Monday, November 25, 2013

Ian Mulgrew: Manitoba case involving nude judge photos illustrates disciplinary dysfunction


The collapse of the Canadian Judicial Council inquiry into nude photos of a Manitoba justice after more than two years proves the disciplinary process for judges needs repair.

The five-member committee led by Alberta Chief Justice Catherine Fraser decided Wednesday there was no point in continuing the charade and threw in the towel.

No wonder — the hearings into the complaint against Queen’s Bench Justice Lori Douglas have been in limbo for more than a year.

Talk about the Senate not being able to discipline itself — take a look at another constitutional institution, the judiciary.

These entire proceedings have been neither fair nor expeditious and public interest has been ignored.
It could have been another year or more before the legal squabbles were resolved and the inquiry underway again.

The committee decided that was ridiculous given the time and public money already incinerated.

“It is ironic that the only way this committee can meet the transparency requirements so essential for public confidence and inform the public of this critical flaw in the process is to resign but, regrettably, that appears to be the case,” the judges said.

This is the first time a panel has ever resigned but these bawdy proceedings had already drawn enormous unwanted attention to the flawed process of asking judges to police each other.

The council is chaired by Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin and includes 38 other chief justices and associate chief justices from across the nation.

It now has been proven to be a toothless, self-regulatory watchdog.

Top legal beagles from across the country were involved in this case, yet from the start it has been an embarrassment.

Full Article and Source:
Ian Mulgrew: Manitoba case involving nude judge photos illustrates disciplinary dysfunction

3 comments:

Finny said...

Clearly the best thing one can say about the disciplinary system is it's dysfunctionable.

Thelma said...

That's too kind, Finny.
It's sick!

Monitoring needs to be done outside of the courts.

jerri said...

when you think you heard it all you haven't